The Legacy
by xTeamDamonx
Summary: Katie Swan is Bella's younger sister. When she moves with Bella to Forks, Alice, Jasper and Edward find themselves confused and bewildered when they discover none of their gifts are any use on her. Slowly, they come to the realization that Katie is not all she seems. Nobody knows what she is, not even Katie herself, but one thing is certain. Katelyn Swan is anything but human.
1. Chapter 1

'Girls' Mom told us again. 'You don't have to do this'

'We want to go' Bella, my older sister, quickly lied.

'Yeah' I added. Bella might not have wanted to go, but I had always loved spending the summers in Forks.

'Tell Charlie I said hi'

'I will' Bella promised.

'I'll see you soon. You can come home whenever you want - I'll come right back as soon as either of you need me'

'Don't worry about us, it'll be great. We love you mom.'

I held back a groan. Bella had acquired a frustratingly annoying habit of talking for me whenever it came to mom.

Mom hugged each of us before darting off into the crowd.

'Let's go.' Bella sighed.

I comfortingly patted her on the arm. Bella loved Phoenix and I knew she was terrified of leaving it behind.

* * *

When we got off the plane, Charlie gave Bella an awkward one armed hug, before crushing me to him.

'Nice hair, kid' He smiled.

I faked a glare at him. The plane ride had caused my hair to badly frizz around my face.

'Bells, take a picture!' I laughed, throwing her my camera.

She took a quick snapshot of me and my frizz before we left the airport and jumped into Charlie's cruiser.

'It's good to see you, kids. Neither of you have changed much. How's Renee?'

'She's fine. It's good to see you too, dad, but I'd say I'm at least two inches taller'

'Definitely' He told me before turning to Bella in the front seat.

'"I found a good car for you, really cheap," he announced when we were strapped in.

'What kind of car?' asked Bella, sounding suspicious.

'Well, it's a truck actually, a Chevy.'

'Where did you find it?"

'Do you remember Billy Black down at La Push?' La Push is the tiny Indian reservation on the coast.

'No.'

'He used to go fishing with us during the summer,' Charlie prompted.

That would explain why she didn't remember him. She hated those fishing trips.

'He's in a wheelchair now,' Charlie continued when she didn't respond, 'so he can't drive anymore, and he offered to sell me his truck cheap.'

'What year is it?'

I felt a flash of annoyance at my older sister. Couldn't she see that Charlie was making an effort?

'Well, Billy's done a lot of work on the engine - it's only a few years old, really.'

He was stupid to think she'd give up that easily.

'When did he buy it?'

'He bought it in 1984, I think.'

'Did he buy it new?'

'Well, no. I think it was new in the early sixties - or late fifties at the earliest,' he admitted sheepishly.

'Ch - Dad, I don't really know anything about cars. I wouldn't be able to fix it if anything went wrong, and I couldn't afford a mechanic...'

'Really, Bella, the thing runs great. They don't build them like that anymore.'

'How cheap is cheap?'

'Well, honey, I kind of already bought it for you. As a homecoming gift' Charlie peeked sideways at her with a hopeful expression.

'You didn't need to do that, Dad. I was going to buy myself a car.'

'I don't mind. I want you to be happy here.' He was looking ahead at the road when he said this. Charlie wasn't comfortable with expressing his emotions out loud. Bella inherited that from him. So she was looking straight ahead as she responded.

'That's really nice, Dad. Thanks. I really appreciate it.'

'Well, now, you're welcome,' he mumbled, embarrassed by her thanks.

That was pretty much it for their conversation. I chattered away in the backseat, sucking on a giant swirly lollipop.

Eventually we made it to Charlie's. He still lived in the small, two-bedroom house that he'd bought with my mother in the early days of their marriage. Those were the only kind of days their marriage had - the early ones. There, parked on the street in front of the house that never changed, was Bella's new - well, new to her - truck. It was a faded red color, with big, rounded fenders and a bulbous cab. I didn't know if it would run, but I could see my sister in it. Plus, it was one of those solid iron affairs that never gets damaged - the kind you see at the scene of an accident, paint unscratched, surrounded by the pieces of the foreign car it had destroyed.

'Wow, Dad, I love it! Thanks!'

I let out a small sigh of relief. Bella had never accepted gifts well.

'I'm glad you like it,' Charlie said gruffly, embarrassed again.

It took only one trip to get all our stuff upstairs. I got the north bedroom that faced out over the side of the house. The room was familiar; it had been belonged to me since I was born. The wooden floor, the lavender walls, the peaked ceiling, and the white curtains - these were all a part of my childhood. The only changes Charlie had ever made were switching the crib for a bed and adding a desk as I grew. The desk now held a second-hand computer, with the phone line for the modem stapled along the floor to the nearest phone jack. I knew there was one in Bella's room, as well. This was a stipulation from our mother, so that we could stay in touch easily. The rocking chair from first Bella's, then my baby days was still in the corner. There was a small bathroom through the door on my right, and through the open door I saw another door on the other end of the bathroom that must have been connected to Bella's room. Charlie had his own bathroom at the top of the stairs.

Charlie didn't hover. As soon as my stuff was in place, he left for downstairs.

I began to think about the coming morning.

Forks High School had a frightening total of only three hundred and fifty-seven - now fifty-nine - students; there were more than seven hundred people in my class alone back home. All of the kids here had grown up together - their grandparents had been toddlers together.

I looked like a girl from Phoenix should; I could work this to my advantage. I had lightly tanned skin, dark brown hair, and the same brown doe-eyes as my sister and Charlie. I used to be a cheerleader and was on the volleyball team - all the things that go with living in the valley of the sun. When I finished putting my clothes in the dresser, I picked up my phone, reading messages from my friends while I waited for Bella to finish in the bathroom.

When the shower cut off, I grabbed my toiletry bag and headed in. Bella had claimed one of the two cupboards on the wall, so I placed my things into the other. I jumped into the shower and washed my airport-frizzed hair, and applied my vanilla-scented body scrub before shutting off the water and wrapped my big, fluffy towel round myself.

I looked at my face in the mirror as I brushed through my tangled, damp hair. Maybe it was the light, but I already looked paler, my tan fading and my skin returning to its natural light olive.

I didn't sleep well that night. The constant whooshing of the rain and wind across the roof wouldn't fade into the background. I pulled the fold quilt over my head, and later added the pillow, too. But I couldn't fall asleep until after midnight, when the rain finally settled into a quieter drizzle. I could hear Bella tossing and turning, and knew she wasn't asleep yet, either.

* * *

Thick fog was all I could see out my window in the morning, and I could feel the claustrophobia creeping up on me. You could never see the sky here; it was like a cage.

Breakfast with Charlie and Bella was a quiet event. He wished us good luck at school. Bella thanked him, sounding hopeless, while I kept my voice bright. Good luck tended follow me. Charlie left first, off to the police station that was his wife and family. After he left, we sat at the old square oak table in one of the four mismatching chairs and examined his small kitchen, with its dark panelled walls, bright yellow cabinets, and white linoleum floor. Nothing was changed. Our mother had painted the cabinets eighteen years ago in an attempt to bring some sunshine into the house. Over the small fireplace in the adjoining handkerchief-sized family room was a row of pictures. First a wedding picture of Charlie and my mom in Las Vegas, then one of the four of us in the hospital after I was born, taken by a helpful nurse. I stared at that one for a while. A two year old Bella bounced on the bed next to mom, who was holding a tiny me. Charlie sat next to her, his arms round us and Bella, looking happier than I'd ever seen him.

It was impossible, being in this house, not to realize that Charlie had never gotten over our mom. It made me uncomfortable.

'Come on, Katie. Let's go' Bella told me, sighing.

I donned my jacket - which had the feel of a bio hazard suit - and headed out into the rain. It was just drizzling still, not enough to soak me through immediately as I reached for the house key that was always hidden under the eaves by the door, and locked up, while Bella went ahead to get the truck started. The sloshing of my new waterproof boots was unnerving. I missed the normal crunch of gravel as I walked. I was in a hurry to get out of the misty wet that swirled around my head and clung to my hair under my hood, and jumped into the car, settling in the seat next to Bella.

Inside the truck, it was nice and dry. Either Billy or Charlie had obviously cleaned it up, but the tan upholstered seats still smelled faintly of tobacco, gasoline, and peppermint.

The engine started quickly, to Bella's obvious relief, but loudly, roaring to life and then idling at top volume. Well, a truck this old was bound to have a flaw. The antique radio worked, a plus that neither of us had expected.

Finding the school wasn't difficult, though we'd never been there before. The school was, like most other things, just off the highway. It was not obvious that it was a school; only the sign, which declared it to be the Forks High School, made me stop. It looked like a collection of matching houses, built with maroon-colored bricks. There were so many trees and shrubs I couldn't see its size at first. Where was the feel of the institution? I wondered. Where were the chain-link fences, the metal detectors? Bella parked in front of the first building, which had a small sign over the door reading front office. No one else was parked there, so I was sure it was off limits.

Bella decided to get directions inside instead of circling around in the rain. I stepped unwillingly out of the toasty truck cab and followed her down a little stone path lined with dark hedges. I heard Bella take a deep breath before opening the door.

Inside, it was brightly lit, and warmer than I'd hoped. The office was small; a little waiting area with padded folding chairs, orange-flecked commercial carpet, notices and awards cluttering the walls, a big clock ticking loudly. Plants grew everywhere in large plastic pots, as if there wasn't enough greenery outside. The room was cut in half by a long counter, cluttered with wire baskets full of papers and brightly colored flyers taped to its front. There were three desks behind the counter, one of which was manned by a large, red-haired woman wearing glasses. She was wearing a purple t-shirt, which immediately made me feel overdressed.

The red-haired woman looked up. 'Can I help you?'

'I'm Isabella Swan, and this is my sister, Katelyn,' Bella informed her.

'Of course,' she said. She dug through a precariously stacked pile of documents on her desk till she found the ones she was looking for. 'I have your schedule right here, and a map of the school.' She brought several sheets to the counter to show us.

She went through first Bella's, then my classes for me, highlighting the best route to each on the map, and gave us a slip to have each teacher sign, which we was to bring back at the end of the day. She smiled at us and hoped, like Charlie, that we would like it here in Forks.

When I went back out to my truck, other students were starting to arrive. We drove around the school, following the line of traffic. Most of the cars were older like Bella's, nothing flashy. At home I'd lived in one of the few lower-income neighbourhoods that were included in the Paradise Valley District. It was a common thing to see a new Mercedes or Porsche in the student lot. The nicest car here was a shiny Volvo, and it stood out. I looked at the map in the truck, noting the layout of the buildings. I stuffed everything in my bag, slung the strap over my shoulder, and sucked in a huge breath._ I can do this_, I said to myself. I exhaled and stepped out of the truck. I kept my face pulled back into my hood as I walked to the sidewalk, crowded with teenagers. My plain black jacket didn't stand out, I noticed with relief. Once I got around the cafeteria, building five was easy to spot. A large black '5' was painted on a white square on the east corner.

I followed two unisex raincoats through the door. The classroom was small. The people in front of me stopped just inside the door to hang up their coats on a long row of hooks. I copied them. They were two girls, one a brunette with skin almost as pale as Bella's, the other also pale, with dark blonde hair. Looked like my skin would be a standout here, in the Land of the Pale People. I took the slip up to the teacher, a young woman with chestnut colored hair. She gawked at me when he saw my name - not an encouraging response. But at least she sent me to an empty desk at the back without introducing me to the class. It was harder for my new classmates to stare at me in the back, but somehow, they managed. I looked at the reading list I had been given, and smiled internally. I could probably find most of this in the Magical Library of Bella's room. We had already covered most of this in my old school, and I wondered if my mom would send me my folder of old essays, or if she would think that was cheating. I went through different arguments with her in my head while the teacher droned on. When the bell rang, a nasal buzzing sound, a tall boy with a black razor cut hair leaned across the aisle to talk to me.

"You're Katelyn Swan, aren't you?" He asked.

"Katie," I corrected. Everyone within a three-seat radius turned to look at me.

"Where's your next class?" he asked.

I had to check in my bag." Um, Calculus, with Varner, in building two."

I looked up and met about twenty curious eyes... I hoped Bella was okay. If they were treating her the same way in her class, I wouldn't be surprised if she had already curled up and died. I didn't mind the focus on me too much, but I knew she was probably terrified.

'I'm headed toward building one, I could show you the way...I'm Andy,' he added.

I smiled. 'Thanks.'

We got our jackets and headed out into the rain, which had picked up. Through the crowd, I spotted Bella with a guy with dark brown hair, and a lot of people right on their heels. Probably trying to eavesdrop.

'So, this is a lot different than Phoenix, huh?' he asked.

'Very.'

'It doesn't rain much there, does it?'

'Three or four times a year, if we're lucky'

"Wow, what must that be like?" he wondered.

'Very sunny,' I told him.

'You're very tan'

'Not for long if the weather stays like this.'

'It will.'

'Great.'

"Well, good luck," he said as I touched the handle of building two. "Maybe we'll have some other classes together."

I gave him a wide grin and went inside.

The rest of the morning passed in about the same fashion. My Trigonometry teacher, Mr Varner, was the only one who made me stand in front of the class and introduce myself. I didn't do too badly, keeping my head up as I gave the class my brightest smile. After two classes, I started to recognize several of the faces in each class. There was always someone braver than the others who would introduce themselves and ask me questions about how I liked Forks. I told them that I loved it here.

At least I never needed the map. One girl sat next to me in both English and Government, and she walked with me to the cafeteria for lunch. She was roughly the same height at me and had sleek, shiny red hair. Her face was almost elfin-like and she was so loud she hurt my head. Her name was Sophie and I smiled and nodded as she prattled about teachers and classes. We sat at the end of a full table with several of her friends, who she introduced to me. I forgot all their names as soon as she spoke them. They seemed impressed by her bravery in speaking to me. The boy from English, Andy, waved at me from across the table, and I smiled back, giving a small wave of my own. Jeez, I was doing so much smiling that my freakin' face hurt.

I spotted Bella across the room sitting with a bunch of juniors. She was staring at something behind me, and I turned, curious, to see a table of teens. They were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, as far away from where everyone sat as possible in the long room. There were five of them. They weren't talking, and they weren't eating, though they each had a tray of untouched food in front of them. They weren't gawking at me, unlike most of the other students, so it was safe to stare at them without fear of meeting an excessively interested pair of eyes. But it was none of these things that caught, and held, my attention. They didn't look anything alike. Of the three boys, one was big - muscled like a serious weight lifter, with dark, curly hair. Another was taller, leaner, but still muscular, and honey blond. The last was lanky, less bulky, with untidy, bronze-colored hair. He was more boyish than the others, who looked like they could be in college, or even teachers here rather than students. The girls were opposites. The tall one was statuesque. She had a beautiful figure, the kind you saw on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, the kind that made every girl around her take a hit on her self-esteem just by being in the same room. Her hair was golden, gently waving to the middle of her back. The short girl was pixie like, thin in the extreme, with small features. Her hair was a deep black, cropped short and pointing in every direction. And yet, they were all exactly alike. Every one of them was chalky pale, the palest of all the students living in this sunless town. Paler than me, the albino. They all had very dark eyes despite the range in hair tones. They also had dark shadows under those eyes - purplish, bruise like shadows. As if they were all suffering from a sleepless night, or almost done recovering from a broken nose. Though their noses, all their features, were straight, perfect, and angular.

But all this is not why I couldn't look away. I stared because their faces, so different, so similar, were all devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful. They were faces you never expected to see except perhaps on the airbrushed pages of a fashion magazine. Or painted by an old master as the face of an angel. It was hard to decide who was the most beautiful - maybe the perfect blond girl, or the bronze- haired boy. They were all looking away - away from each other, away from the other students, away from anything in particular as far as I could tell. As I watched, the small girl rose with her tray - unopened soda, unbitten apple - and walked away with a quick, graceful lope that belonged on a runway. I watched, amazed at her lithe dancer's step, till she dumped her tray and glided through the back door, faster than I would have thought possible. My eyes darted back to the others, who sat unchanging.

I saw Bella say something to the dark-haired girl sitting next to her. The girl looked up to see who she meant and suddenly he looked at her, the thinner one, the boyish one, the youngest, perhaps. He looked at Bella's neighbour for just a fraction of a second, and then his dark eyes flickered first to Bella's, and then to mine. He looked away quickly. In that brief flash of a glance, his face held nothing of interest - it was as if she had called his name, and he'd looked up in involuntary response, already having decided not to answer.

The dark haired girl giggled in embarrassment and proceeded to launch into what looked like a long speech.

I got up and put the remainder of my lunch into the garbage, before explaining to Sophie that I was going early to next period.

I turned the corner to building four, and bumped into a small figure. I instinctively grabbed her arms to stop her falling and noticed how cold she was. Upon closer inspection, I noticed it was the pretty black-haired girl from the cafeteria.

'Sorry' I told her, a rare blush beginning to creep across my face.

'It's fine. I didn't see you coming.' She said, beaming at me; though her wind-chime voice held a tone of...shock? Surprise? I wasn't sure.

'I'm Katie' I told her.

'I'm Alice. Aren't you a sophomore?'

'Yeah, but my grades are high in Art, so I'm in the junior class.'

'Oh! You like to draw?'

'Yeah. Do you?'

'It depends what mood I'm in. So today's your first day?'

'Yes. My sister's, too'

'Your sister is Bella?'

'Hmm-hmm. Do you know her?'

'I know _of _her'

'Fair enough.'

'I think you'll be sitting with me. The only free space is on my desk.' She told me.

'Cool. You don't mind?'

'Of course not! I have a feeling that we will be great friends'

I gave her yet _another _smile, before the people that had slowly arrived for class began to file in. I handed the slip to the teacher, and he pointed me down the row to the seat next to Alice, who grinned, waving excitedly.

We began our assignment, which was to sketch picture of an animal that represents us, before cutting it out with a craft knife and sticking it to some black card.

I began to draw a hummingbird, and once finished, I turned to see Alice had already drawn a pretty gazelle and glued it to a piece of card.

I took a craft knife and about halfway through cutting my drawing out, I sliced my hand open. Blood ran down my hand, seeping slowly from the large gash.

Beside me, Alice had stiffened.

'Are you okay?' I asked, noticing that she seemed to be holding her breath. 'You don't have a thing with blood do you?'

Alice took two tentative breaths before relaxing perfectly.

'No. I'm fine. I'll take you to the nurse.' Again, the trace of surprise?

'Thanks'

Alice said a few words to Mr Lawrence before leading me out of the room, and down a few corridors.

'Here we are!' she said happily, holding the door open.

The nurse winced at the sight of my hand.

'Ouch.' she winced, before taking my hand, cleaning it and bandaging it up.

I picked up my bag and the bell rang.

'Where's your next lesson?' Alice asked. 'I'll walk you there.'

'Um...building six.'

'Follow me!'

Outside building six, Alice gave me a hug.

'See you in art' she grinned before bouncing off.

It was only as I wandered inside did I realize that as she hugged me, Alice had been sniffing my skin.

Strange.

* * *

I met Bella outside the office. She was looking strangely hurt.

'Are you okay?' I asked after handing my slip in.

'Yeah...Hey! What happened?' she asked, grabbing my arm to inspect the bandage, going immediately into 'Worried sister mode'.

'Nothing. Just an accident in art.'

'Katie! You have to be more careful!' she tutted.

As we entered the Parking Lott, Alice waved at me from by the silver Volvo I had seen earlier.

I waved back, before getting into the truck.

All in all, I had had a pretty good first day.

* * *

**Alice**

Edward was gone.

It felt wrong, sitting around the large dining room table that we only used for occasions like these, without him. I had asked Carlisle for a family meeting to discuss the oddity that was Katie Swan.

'What happened, Alice?' Carlisle asked.

'Outside Art, she bumped right into me. I couldn't _see _her! I spent the whole class trying but I could only come up with faint outlines. The furthest clear image I could get was no more than two minutes and thirty-six seconds away.'

'Fascinating! You think she has a natural resistance to your talent?'

'It's not just that.' I continued. 'Halfway through class, she sliced her hand open with a craft knife. There was blood everywhere, all over the table, dripping down her arm...'

There were collective gasps all around the table.

'What happened, Alice?' Esme pressed.

'I couldn't smell it. It was like...scented water. Like Roses. Very pretty, but you wouldn't want to put it in your mouth, would you?'

I pulled out the handkerchief that I had discreetly wiped some blood on to show to Carlisle, and waved it in the air.

'This is her blood. Jasper...would you mind?' I asked, handing it to him.

Jasper raised it to his nose and inhaled deeply.

'She's right. It doesn't tempt me at all.' he announced.

'What will we do about this girl?' Rosalie asked.

'We will watch her; see if there is anything odd about her.' Carlisle decided.

I agreed with him.

There was something not right with Katie Swan.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day was better because it wasn't raining yet, though the clouds were dense and opaque. It was easier because I knew what to expect of my day. Andy came to sit by me in English, and walked me to my next class, with another guy, Logan, glaring at him the whole time. People didn't look at me quite as much as they had yesterday. I sat with a big group at lunch that included Andy, Logan, Sophie, and several other people. I began to feel like I was treading water, instead of drowning in it.

In Art, Alice was slightly quieter, and a few times I caught her glancing at me out of the corner of her eyes. I wouldn't have been bothered about it if it was just her. But it wasn't. It seemed wherever I went, one member of the Cullen family would be there, as if observing me.

'How is your hand, today?' Alice asked, breaking the silence.

'It's fine, thanks' I told her, showing her the thin, red line on my palm.

She looked surprised as she took my hand in her cool ones.

'It's healed so fast! It looks old, a scar!'

'I've always been a quick healer. I recovered of a broken leg in three weeks. The doctors said that there wasn't even any sign that fracture was there to begin with.'

'Interesting. There was so much blood yesterday, I was worried'

'I'm good, honestly.'

And that was pretty much it for conversation.

After the bell went, I went to wait for Bella in the truck. She was a few minutes late, and when she came into view, she had the traces of a blush across her cheeks.

Bella wanted to go to the Thriftway before heading home, so I followed her around, throwing things like Pop tarts and cheese balls into the cart while she wasn't looking. When we finally arrived home, Bella packed everything up and started on dinner while I sat at the kitchen table, muddling through my calculus homework. To be fair, Bella didn't just leave me to suffer. She helped me quite a bit. After that was done, I went upstairs to check my emails. There were four, all from mom.

**Katie.**

**How is it in Forks? Is it raining yet? And how was your first day? I'm almost finished packing for Florida, but I can't find my pink blouse. I'll ask Bella where it is. Phil says hi. I miss you.**

**Mom**

The next read:

**Katie.**

**I forgot to add that Michelle dropped by yesterday, and said you still had her earrings. Do you know where they are? I can't find them.**

**Mom**

Then:

**Katie. **

**Why haven't you emailed me yet? What are you waiting for?**

**Mom.**

And finally:

**Katelyn Rose Swan.**

**Why aren't you and Bella answering? If you don't reply by 5:30, I'm calling Charlie.**

**Mom.**

I still had an hour, but I thought it best to begin to write straight away.

**Mom.**

**I'm writing now.**

**Katie.**

I sent that before starting on my Email.

**Mom.**

**Forks is fine, and of course it's raining. Duh. My first day at school was fine, I met some nice people. Michelle's earrings are in my jewellery box by the dresser. The gold ones with the pink gem on them.**

**I miss you too, mom. And Bella does even more, though Charlie brought her a truck.**

**Love you.**

**Katie.**

Just after I had sent that, the front door opened and shut, and I heard Bella hurry past my bedroom door and down the stairs.

'Girls?' I heard Charlie call.

Bella said something muffled before I got up and headed downstairs.

'What's for dinner?' Charlie asked, sounding a little wary.

'Steak and Potatoes' Bella answered and he looked somewhat relieved.

Charlie nodded before shuffling into the living room. I helped Bella lay the table and sat on the counter, swinging my legs as she made salad.

When it was ready, Bella called Charlie in and he sniffed appreciatively.

'Smells good, Bell.'

'Thanks' she mumbled, blushing slightly.

We ate for a few minutes in a comfortable silence before Charlie broke it by asking;

'So, how did you like school? Have you made any friends?' as he was taking seconds.

'Well, I have a few classes with a girl named Jessica. I sit with her friends at lunch. And there's this boy, Mike, who's very friendly. Everybody seems pretty nice.' With one outstanding exception.

'That must be Mike Newton. Nice kid - nice family. His dad owns the sporting goods store just outside of town. He makes a good living off all the backpackers who come  
through here.'

'Do you know the Cullen family?' Bella asked hesitantly.

'Dr. Cullen's family? Sure. Dr. Cullen's a great man.'

'They... the kids... are a little different. They don't seem to fit in very well at school.'

Charlie looked angry.

'People in this town,' he muttered. 'Dr. Cullen is a brilliant surgeon who could probably work in any hospital in the world, make ten times the salary he gets here,' he continued, getting louder. 'We're lucky to have him - lucky that his wife wanted to live in a small town. He's an asset to the community, and all of those kids are well behaved and polite. I had my doubts, when they first moved in, with all those adopted teenagers. I thought we might have some problems with them. But they're all very mature - I haven't had one speck of trouble from any of them. That's more than I can say for the children of some folks who have lived in this town for generations. And they stick together the way a family should - camping trips every other weekend... Just because they're newcomers, people have to talk.'

It was the longest speech I'd ever heard Charlie make. He must feel strongly about whatever people were saying.

'I sit with Alice, in Art. She's nice.' I told them.

Bella backpedalled. 'They seemed nice enough to me. I just noticed they kept to themselves. They're all very attractive,' she added.

'You should see the doctor,' Charlie said, laughing. 'It's a good thing he's happily married. A lot of the nurses at the hospital have a hard time concentrating on their work with him around.'

We lapsed back into silence as we finished eating. He cleared the table while I started to help Bella with the dishes. He went back to the TV, and after we finished washing the dishes by hand - no dishwasher - I went upstairs unwillingly to work on my math homework. I could feel a tradition in the making.

That night it was finally quiet. I fell asleep quickly, exhausted.

The rest of the week was uneventful. I got used to the routine of my classes. By Friday I was able to recognize, if not name, almost all the students at school. Mike Newton, one of Bella's friends invited me on a beach trip. Apparently Bella had already agreed, so I did as well. In Art, Alice continued her strange behaviour, though she chattered away.

My first weekend in Forks passed without incident. Charlie, unused to spending time in the usually empty house, worked most of the weekend. I got ahead on my homework, and wrote my mom a cheerful e-mail. I did drive to the library Saturday, with Bella, but it was so poorly stocked neither of us bothered to get a card.

The rain stayed soft over the weekend, quiet, so I was able to sleep well. People greeted me in the parking lot Monday morning. I didn't know all their names, but I waved back and smiled at everyone. It was colder this morning, but happily not raining. In English, Andy took his accustomed seat by my side.

When we walked out of class, the air was full of swirling bits of white. I could hear people shouting excitedly to each other. The wind bit at my cheeks, my nose.

'Wow,' Andy said. 'It's snowing.'

I looked at the little cotton fluffs that were building up along the sidewalk and swirling erratically past my face.

I gasped. It was so pretty.

'Ooh, pretty!' I said in wonder.

He laughed. 'You like snow?'

'Yes!'

"Haven't you ever seen it fall before?" he asked.

'Sure I have.' I paused. 'On TV.'

Andy laughed. And then a big, squishy ball of dripping snow smacked into the back of his head. We both turned to see where it came from. I had my suspicions about Logan, who was walking away, his back toward us - in the wrong direction for his next class. Andy apparently had the same notion. He bent over and began scraping together a pile of the white mush.

'Let me try!' I demanded.

He grinned, and handed the soft white ball over.

I raised my arm and threw it. The snowball sailed through the air, and landed right on Logan's carefully styled blonde hair.

'Ha!' I crowed triumphantly.

Andy raised his hand and I gave him a high five.

Throughout the morning, everyone chattered excitedly about the snow; apparently it was the first snowfall of the New Year. I grinned and laughed with them, excited about the snow.

I walked to the cafeteria with Sophie after Government. Mush balls were flying everywhere.

Andy caught up to us as we walked in the doors, laughing, with ice melting in his hair. He and Sophie were talking animatedly about the snow fight as we got in line to buy food.

'I'm gonna convince Bella to make a snow man with me!' I announced, causing my two friends to laugh.

'You're like a baby!' Sophie grinned.

'Am not! I just really like it!'

I grabbed my food, and then followed them to a table.

Bella was staring at the Cullen's table again. I raised my head to see that the copper haired guy was there again. Hm. Looked like my sister had a crush.

They were laughing. Edward, Jasper, and Emmett all had their hair entirely saturated with melting snow. Alice and Rosalie were leaning away as Emmett shook his dripping hair toward them. They were enjoying the snowy day, just like everyone else - only they looked more like a scene from a movie than the rest of us. But, aside from the laughter and playfulness, there was something different, and I couldn't quite pinpoint what that difference was.

Alice was more animated in Art today.

'So you like the snow?' she asked, smiling a breath-taking smile at me.

'Yeah! It's just so pretty, and it makes everything look so clean'

'I agree! You should see the woods around our house; they look magical in the snow.'

'I can imagine. I've never seen snowy woods. Maybe I could convince Bella to take a walk with me.'

Alice suddenly looked alarmed.

'No! I mean...when it snows it gets slippery in the woods. You shouldn't go in there.'

'Oh. Okay then.'

Art passed quickly, and soon I was dodging snowballs as I went through the Parking Lott towards the truck. Bella was already inside, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel.

I quickly fell into a day dream, and followed Bella into the house.

'Make a snowman with me?' I asked, giving her the puppy eyes.

'No.' she said flatly before going up to her room.

What was up with her?

* * *

When I opened my eyes in the morning, something was different. It was the light. It was still the grey-green light of a cloudy day in the forest, but it was clearer somehow. I realized there was no fog veiling my window. I jumped up to look outside, and then squealed in excitement.

A fine layer of snow covered the yard, dusted the top of the truck, and whitened the road. But that wasn't the best part. All the rain from yesterday had frozen solid - coating the needles on the trees in fantastic, gorgeous patterns, and making the driveway an ice slick. Charlie had left for work before I got downstairs. In a lot of ways, living with Charlie was like living alone with Bella.

I threw down a quick bowl of cereal and some orange juice from the carton. I felt excited to go to school, and that scared me. I knew it was because I wanted to finally get away from Bella, who had been moody all night.

I blamed PMS.

Walking down the driveway, Bella almost lost her balance twice, but I managed to cling to her, and stop her from landing flat on her ass.

She was going to have a terrible, terrible day.

I spent the whole drive to school clutching the side of my seat and praying - _actually praying _- that Bella wouldn't slip and kill us both.

When we made it to school in one piece, I stood by the truck, rooting through my bag, looking for my English homework. Bella was bending down to examine the wheels.

Then I heard an odd sound.

It was a high pitched screeching and was painfully loud. I looked up to see a blue van skidding on the icy black top, heading straight towards us.

Just before it smashed into us, I felt an arm grabbing me round my waist, pulling me out the way. Bella had been moved away already, and she was blinking, dazed on the floor. The van swung towards me again and two hands shot out protectively, pushing it away, and then, impossibly fast, they were holding it up, keeping it from crushing Bella's legs.

I turned around to see the frantic face of Edward Cullen.

'Bella? Katie? Are you all right?'

'I'm fine.' Bella's voice sounded strange.

'I'm bleeding' I whispered, putting my fingers to my head and then looking at the blood left on my fingers.

'Be careful,' he warned Bella 'I think you hit your head pretty hard.'

'Ow,' Bella said, surprised.

'That's what I thought.' His voice, amazingly, sounded like he was suppressing laughter.

'How in the...' She trailed off, 'How did you get over here so fast?'

'I was standing right next to you, Bella,' he said, his tone serious again.

And then they found us, a crowd of people with tears streaming down their faces, shouting at each other, shouting at us.

'Don't move,' someone instructed.

'Get Tyler out of the van!' someone else shouted.

There was a flurry of activity around us, but I felt my eyes drifting shut. I was so tired...

* * *

**Carlisle**

Currently in the emergency room were two people of interest to my family. Katie and Bella Swan. Katie still hadn't woken up, and was hooked to an IV, but after I checked out Bella, she was free to go. Katie was being kept in for observation.

I moved over to the small girl on the bed and gently peeled off the bandage on her head to see the deep gash. I gave a small gasp of amazement as I saw it.

Inside the cut, I could see every nerve ending tying themselves together, and the lower layer of skin beginning to knit together. Alice was right when she told me of this girl's fascinating healing ability. Those, on top of her blood, made me wonder...what was this girl? I had never met anyone like her. I watched until a while later, the wound was just a pale pink line across her head, before having an idea. I bandaged the wound again, and checked her palm, searching for the mark Alice had described. It was now just a quickly fading scar. I pulled a needle from my pocket, and drew a small amount of her blood.

I had a blood sample from several other people with cancer and other injuries, so when I got home that evening, I went to my office and applied a little of Katie's blood to each of the samples. Then I watched in wonder as the cancer patient's cancer cells disappeared. The Malaria from another sample was also gone, along with the HIV from the last one.

Katie's blood was some sort of miracle cure.

* * *

When I woke up, it was dark, and Charlie and Bella were sleeping on small chairs round my bed.

'Bella?' I whispered.

My older sister jumped and looked at me, tears quickly filling her eyes as she hugged me.

'Charlie!' Bella called, jerking him from his slumber.

He sighed in relief when he saw me.

'I'll call Dr. Cullen. I think he just got back for his night shift.'

He disappeared, reappearing seconds later with a young blonde man.

'Hello, Katie. It's good to see you awake' He smiled.

'It's good to _be _awake' I grinned back.

'I should think so. I'll check your vitals and then you will be free to leave in the morning.'

He examined me, and to my surprise took three vials of my blood.

'It's just for tests' He explained.

Why did I get the feeling he was lying?

'Okay' I said, nodding and swallowing my doubt.

* * *

The next morning, I was free to leave as Dr. Cullen had said. The only downside was that Charlie had put me on bed-rest till the weekend. And that I had to call mom.

'Katie, you have to come home!' She begged, in hysterics.

'No, mom. I'm fine. I'm all healed up!'

'Charlie said you have to stay on bed rest till the weekend. Is that true?'

'Yeah...but I'm fine. Seriously.'

'If one more incident like this happens, I'll come to Forks and get you myself!'

'Okay. Love you mom.'

'I love you, sweetie. Don't ever scare me like that again.'

'I won't. Sorry.'

The next day, Charlie brought me the paper. Exiting. The headlines screamed **'Terminally Ill Cancer Patient Recovers - Is It a Miracle?'**

At least I had the beach trip on the weekend to look forward to.

I'd been to the beaches around La Push many times during my Forks summers with Charlie, so the mile-long crescent of First Beach was familiar to me. It was still breath-taking. The water was dark grey, even in the sunlight, white-capped and heaving to the grey, rocky shore. Islands rose out of the steel harbour waters with sheer cliff sides, reaching to uneven summits, and crowned with austere, soaring firs. The beach had only a thin border of actual sand at the water's edge, after which it grew into millions of large, smooth stones that looked uniformly grey from a distance, but close up were every shade a stone could be: terra-cotta, sea green, lavender, blue grey, dull gold. The tide line was strewn with huge driftwood trees, bleached bone white in the salt waves, some piled together against the edge of the forest fringe, some lying solitary, just out of reach of the waves. There was a brisk wind coming off the waves, cool and briny. Pelicans floated on the swells while seagulls and a lone eagle wheeled above them. The clouds still circled the sky, threatening to invade at any moment, but for now the sun shone bravely in its halo of blue sky.

We picked our way down to the beach, Mike Newton leading the way to a ring of driftwood logs that had obviously been used for parties like ours before. There was a fire circle already in place, filled with black ashes. Eric and the boy I thought was named Ben gathered broken branches of driftwood from the drier piles against the forest edge, and soon had tepee-shaped construction built atop the old cinders.

'Have you ever seen a driftwood fire?' Mike asked me and Bella. We were sitting on one of the bone-colored benches; the other girls clustered, gossiping excitedly, on either side of us. Mike kneeled by the fire, lighting one of the smaller sticks with a cigarette lighter.

'No,' I said as he placed the blazing twig carefully against the tepee.

'You'll like this then - watch the colours.' He lit another small branch and laid it alongside the first. The flames started to lick quickly up the dry wood.

'It's blue,' Bella said in surprise.

'The salt does it. Pretty, isn't it?' He lit one more piece, placed it where the fire hadn't yet caught, and then came to sit by Bella. I watched the strange blue and green flames crackle toward the sky. After a half hour of chatter, some of the boys wanted to hike to the nearby tidal pools. I loved the tide pools. They had fascinated me since I was a child, so I agreed. After a few minutes, Bella joined as well.

The hike wasn't too long, though I hated to lose the sky in the woods. The green light of the forest was strangely at odds with the adolescent laughter, too murky and ominous to be in harmony with the light banter around me. I walked slower, to keep pace with Bella who had fallen behind. Eventually I broke through the emerald confines of the forest and found the rocky shore again.

It was low tide, and a tidal river flowed past us on its way to the sea. Along its pebbled banks, shallow pools that never completely drained were teeming with life. I leaped over the rocks, perching precariously on the edges. I finally found a very stable- looking one on the fringe of one of the largest pools and sat there, spellbound by the natural aquarium below me. The bouquets of brilliant anemones undulated ceaselessly in the invisible current, twisted shells scurried about the edges, obscuring the crabs within them, starfish stuck motionless to the rocks and each other, while one small black eel with white racing stripes wove through the bright green weeds, waiting for the sea to return. I was completely absorbed. Finally the boys were hungry, and I got up stiffly to follow them back. Bella tried to keep up better this time through the woods, so naturally she fell a few times. She got some shallow scrapes on her palms, and the knees of her jeans were stained green, but it could have been worse.

When we got back to First Beach, the group we'd left behind had multiplied. As we got closer we could see the shining, straight black hair and copper skin of the newcomers, teenagers from the reservation come to socialize. The food was already being passed around, and the boys hurried to claim a share while Eric (one of Bella's friends) introduced us as we each entered the driftwood circle. Me and Bella were the last to arrive, and, as Eric said our names, I noticed a younger boy sitting on the stones near the fire glance up at me in interest.

Wait...I knew that face!

'Jacob!' I said grinning.

He smiled back at me, and I went and sat next to him.

'Didn't think you'd remember me' He told me.

'Of course I did! How could I forget my partner in crime?'

'You know Katie, Jacob?' Lauren, a girl from Bella's year, asked - in what I imagined was an insolent tone - from across the fire.

'We've sort of known each other since we were born,' he laughed, smiling at me again.

'How nice.' She didn't sound like she thought it was nice at all, and her pale, fishy eyes narrowed.

'Bella,' she called, watching my sister's face carefully, 'I was just saying to Tyler that it was too bad none of the Cullen's could come out today. Didn't anyone think to invite them?

Her expression of concern was unconvincing.

'You mean Dr. Carlisle Cullen's family?' a tall, older boy asked before she could respond, much to Lauren's obvious irritation. He was really closer to a man than a boy, and his voice was very deep.

'Yes, do you know them?' she asked condescendingly, turning halfway toward him.

'The Cullen's don't come here,' he said in a tone that closed the subject, ignoring her question.

I stared at the deep-voiced boy, taken aback, but he was looking away toward the dark forest behind us. He'd said that the Cullen's didn't come here, but his tone had implied something more - that they weren't allowed; they were prohibited. His manner left a strange impression on me, and I tried to ignore it without success.

Jacob interrupted my meditation. 'So is Forks driving you insane yet?'

'Nah, I like it here.' I smiled. He grinned again.

I looked up and saw Bella wandering down the beach with one of the Quileute boys.

'Who's that?' I asked.

Jacob looked up to where I was watching Bella's retreating figure.

'Hm. I'm not sure.'

'Maybe she likes him!' I said excitedly.

'I hope for her sake she doesn't. You would never let her hear the end of it, would you?'

'Ah, Jake, my friend, you know me too well'

We chattered for maybe half an hour, until Bella came back and Mike announced that it was going to rain soon, and that we should leave.

'I'll come see you soon' I promised Jacob.

'You better.' He laughed.

In Mike's car, Bella was awfully quiet. She was pale, and had her eyes shut.

For the second time this week, she bolted straight back up to her bedroom.

* * *

**We are exactly 25% into the book. 75% to go. Yaaaaaay!**

**Katie knows Jacob because, like Bella, Rachel and Rebecca, they used to play together as kids.**

* * *

**Reviews are like cookies...So give me some! XD**


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